Romanian War Prisoners in Austro-Hungary (1916–1919)

The paper examines a particular and lesser-known dimension of Romania’s participation in the First World War, namely the issue of captivity, focusing on the Romanian prisoners of war held by the Austria-Hungary. The research is based both on archival sources, as well as on various studies, papers, and memoirs or war journals (some of which were re-edited in the context of the WWI Centennial) of the former combatants who survived WWI captivity. The research sheds new light on an omitted issue of the Romanian involvement in WWI by examining the desperate situation of the Romanian prisoners held in various POW camps across AustroHungarian Empire. The analysis was based on several indicators and factors, starting from the international legislation (at that time) on the rights and duties regarding the POW status, and continuing with the context of falling into captivity; the various camps that hosted Romanian POWs, the treatment associated with the per se captivity. The rather poor and harsh conditions existing in the Austro-Hungarian POW camps, mostly at the beginning of the captivity, generated the highest mortality rate among Romanian POWs (almost 40% of the prisoners), compared to Romanian captivity experienced in all the other Central Powers countries.